Actors suing film companies for alleged shortchanging on profits: It’s all the rage! On Thursday, Scarlett Johansson shocked the industry by suing one of the largest mega-corporations in the world, Disney, for simultaneously releasing Black Widow in theaters and on Disney+ (for PVOD, but still). Now Gerard Butler is doing something similar-but-different, for the 2013 franchise-started Olympus Has Fallen.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Scottish actor filed a fraud claim against Nu Image, Millennium Media and Padre Nuestro Productions, alleging that they owe him at least $10 million more than they paid him. Butler claims he hasn’t seen a dime in net profits from the film, which grossed around $170 million worldwide and yielded two sequels, both of which starred him.
The claim also alleges that the companies launched a “comprehensive, premeditated scheme” to hide profits and deprive Butler of what he’s owed from them.
Olympus Has Fallen stars Butler as a Secret Service Agent who helps foil an attempted coup of the White House — a plot that also fueled the same year’s White House Down, starring Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx. Olympus proved the bigger hit.
The suit was filed the day after Johansson’s, which accused Disney of not renegotiating their contract with her before they decided her long-awaited MCU solo movie would drop on their streamer. That film went on to a pandemic record opening weekend but has since underperformed, clocking in at one of the franchise’s lowest grossers. As Hollywood contracts are thrown into further disarray amidst a rapidly changing industry, expect more of the same — or, in the case of Butler, to come for what they’re allegedly owed.
One day after the NBA Draft and a pair of Eastern Conference playoff teams came to terms on a trade. The Boston Celtics, which have been in serious need of point guard depth, and the Atlanta Hawks, which could use a big man in the short-term, worked out a deal that helps both teams.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski, Tristan Thompson is headed to the Hawks, and in exchange, the Celtics will acquire Kris Dunn and a second-round pick in the 2023 NBA Draft.
The Celtics are trading Tristan Thompson to Atlanta for Kris Dunn, and a 2023 second-round pick, sources tell ESPN.
While neither Dunn nor Thompson are game-changers, they are able to provide a little stability to a pair of positions that have question marks. Boston’s point guards are a mishmash of Marcus Smart and a trio of young dudes (Carsen Edwards, Payton Pritchard, Tremont Waters), and while Dunn isn’t going to go in and win the starting job barring something unforeseen, he gives them a competent option off the bench and a person who can provide some defensive tenacity on the perimeter.
As for the Hawks, the team won’t have promising young big man Onyeka Okongwu for six months following offseason shoulder surgery. While he should be back in time for the pre-All-Star push and the second half of the season based off of that timetable, they could use an option behind Clint Capela that does not involve going small with John Collins (should he re-sign) or Danilo Gallinari, and Thompson gives them exactly that. Neither team is taking on a long-term contract in the deal, either, as both players are free agents at the conclusion of the 2021-22 campaign.
A lot of great actors have graced the movies of Wes Anderson. But one of the bigger ones to elude him so far is Tom Hanks. They’d make a great pair: Hanks, like a number of W. Anderson regulars, has a comedy foundation; he was never an SNL cast member, but he has hosted the show a whopping 10 times. That will change soon: As per The Hollywood Reporter, Hanks has joined the no doubt sprawling cast of whatever his next movie will be after his still-yet-to-be-released opus The French Dispatch.
Mind you, he probably won’t be the lead. A source told THR they can’t confirm the size of the role, but it will probably be “small and could be cameo-like in nature.” Also unknown at this time are any details about the plot, though we know some of the cast — Adrien Brody, Bill Murray, and Tilda Swinton, all part of Anderson’s stable — and a shooting location: Spain.
Meanwhile, Anderson’s Tom Hanks-less The French Dispatch, which in a better timeline would have come out last fall, is now scheduled to be released on October 22. It played the Cannes Film Festival earlier this month.
For Hanks, this will likely be the most stylized auteur he’s worked with since he starred in the Coen brothers’ remake of The Ladykillers. He fit into the Coens’ world like a glove, so one imagines he’ll acquit himself just fine with the guy who made a stop-motion movie about endangered mutts. And lord knows he loves to do comedy for a change.
The best new hip-hop this week includes albums, videos, and songs from Isaiah Rashad, Logic, Skepta, and more.
It was a bit of an eventful week in hip-hop as the fallout from DaBaby’s controversial Rolling Loud set settled over the next five days. And although the Charlotte rapper ate up the bulk of the hip-hop-related news cycle’s headlines, there were a few moments that provided some genuine shots of excitement for fans, especially watching Young Thug debut several songs from his upcoming album Punk on NPR Tiny Desk.
Friday saw the releases of Isaiah Rashad’s long-awaited return, Logic’s retirement-ending new mixtape, and Skepta’s All In EP, and new singles from Morray (“Trenches” remix with Polo G), G-Eazy (“At Will” with EST Gee), Toosii (“Spin Music” with Fivio Foreign), Rexx Life Raj (“Red Lobster Biscuits“), Maxo Kream (“Local Joker“), and Tyga (“Mrs. Bubblegum“) along with the releases listed below.
Here is the best of hip-hop this week ending July 30, 2021.
Albums/EPs/Mixtapes
Dave East & Harry Fraud — Hoffa
Dave East
Honestly, it’s borderline frustrating that it took the Harlem native this long to adopt the strategy so many New Yorkers have been so successful with: working with just one producer whose sound fits their flow. From Brooklyn’s Buckshot and Jay-Z employing 9th Wonder and No I.D., respectively, to Queens legend Nas letting Hit-Boy almost singlehandedly reverse the “tin ear” narrative, it seems like it’d be a no-brainer for a rapper as good as East to stop overreaching for mainstream acclaim and let the mainstream come to him. Better late than never, I suppose — especially when it sounds this good.
Isaiah Rashad — The House Is Burning
Isaiah Rashad
Isaiah Rashad has made himself scarce since the release of his fan-favorite, critically-hailed debut The Sun’s Tirade in 2016, and in the lead-up to his latest album drop, we learned all bone-chilling reasons why. However, he’s back, healthy, and sounding just as confident as ever on this groovy, deconstructed journey through his past five years and ambitions for the future.
Logic — Bobby Tarantino 3
Logic
Well, that didn’t last long at all, did it? Logic is just over a year from the announcement of his retirement (which he may have side-stepped by using the Doctor Destruction alter ego project in January as a loophole) and yet here he is, back in the saddle. His Bobby Tarantino mixtapes were some of his fans’ favorites from him (others had opposing beliefs), so it makes sense he’d brush off a trusted brand name if he were to break his extended vacation.
Skepta — All In [EP]
Skepta
Just five songs truly don’t seem like enough after Skepta took 2020 off from releasing solo material (he did, however, lay down some verses on the group project Insomnia with Chip and Young Adz), but we’ll take what we can get — especially if what we get includes the stellar “Nirvana” with J Balvin and a Kid Cudi feature on “Peace Of Mind.”
Young Dolph & Paper Route Empire — Paper Route Illumanti
Young Dolph
Speaking of rappers who just can’t seem to follow through on their threats to retire, the Memphis godfather returns yet again but at least justifies his waffling this time by making his new project a group effort, sharing the spotlight with his young labelmates as he tries to set them up for their own future successes.
Singles/Videos
Fredo Bang — “Street Team”
In case you haven’t noticed by now, I really like this Fredo Bang kid. He’s got excellent production mostly courtesy of DJ Chose, a pitch-perfect voice with a precisely incisive delivery, and infectious energy that shines through on every track, including this one. He’s going places.
Pink Siifu — “Bussin’ (Cold)” Feat. Turich Benjy
Pink Siifu’s futuristic backpack rapper outlook has earned him a small but extremely loyal fanbase who he rewards with this curveball of a hazy cloud rap banger.
Russ — “Fate”
Don’t think for a minute that just because Russ is getting placed here instead of his own standalone posts it signifies a drop in quality. He’s just so consistent with the weekly releases, he’s earned himself a resident role in the “Best Of” list until further notice.
YS — “Hate Me” Feat. Babyface Ray & Fenix Flexin
A West Coast slap of Hollywood sign proportions, this turn-up anthem offers yet another example of the absurdly powerful chemistry between those of us in the Golden State and our counterparts in Motor City.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Jungle Cruise: (Disney film on Disney+) — Emily Blunt might be the star of the summer (after A Quiet Place 2‘s success) if this long-awaited potential blockbuster’s a hit, and the excellent news is that you can watch it in theaters or your living room. She punches The Rock in this movie, and he plays the shipper who’s attempting to guide her down the river through life-threatening obstacles. This movie’s based upon a Disney theme park ride, so expect plenty of ridiculousness including Jesse Plemons firing a torpedo at the duo after brandishing a German accent and Paul Giamatti with a pretty bird.
Outer Banks: Season 2 (Netflix series) — This is not your typical teen drama. Last season delivered loads of intrigue and flat-out woo-woo revelations following a hurricane and buried treasure and class warfare between different factions in an overall well-to-do community. There are Kooks and Pogues, and the power’s gone for the entirety of the summer, which sounds miserable, but the mysteries won’t stop, including the whereabouts of John B.’s dad. And oh yes, there’s so much soapiness to the characters’ dynamics that you might lose your footing while slipping towards that sunken treasure.
Here’s some more regularly scheduled programming:
The White Lotus (Sunday, HBO 9:00pm) — Mike White’s new series skewers the ultra-wealthy in what turns out to be a brilliant satire on how obscene wealth rots everything that it touches. It’s like The Love Boat or Fantasy Island had a lovechild with Agatha Christie. This week, Rachel’s blindsided by a visitor who knows Shane, and Belinda’s weighing a business proposition.
Wipeout: The Suicide Squad Special (Sunday, TBS 9:00pm) — Host John Cena does double duty here to promote his relaunch movie in the DCEU.The teams and guests are all trying to win $25,000. Expect co-host Nicole Byer to meet James Gunn while cameos from Nathan Fillion, Joel Kinnaman, David Dastmalchian, and Daniela Melchior are on the table.
Kevin Can F**k Himself (Sunday, AMC 9:00 p.m.) — The “big night” leads to fallout and, uh, Kevin deciding that he should run for office.
Wellington Paranormal (Sunday, CW 9:00pm) — What We Do In The Shadows fans rejoice because you’re receiving a spinoff mockumentary series with the same comedy-horror tone from creators and executive producers Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement. This week, terrifying clowns and a human sacrifice make for one awful night.
100 Foot Wave (Sunday, HBO 10:00pm) — This six-part sports-documentary series follows the decade-long journey of Garrett McNamara, the pioneering and iconic surfer who dreamed of conquering (as the title indicates) a 100-foot wave, which did more than push his sport to literally higher heights while also elevating a small fishing village.
The Chi (Sunday, Showtime 9:00pm) — Clean slate time is coming for Imani and Shaad, and Emmett presses Tiff for a decision. Trig’s looking toward an ultimatum, and hey, it’s block party time.
Flatbush Misdemeanors (Sunday, Showtime 10:30pm) — Dan and Kevin question their friendship following a shocking tragedy, and Dami is secretly hosting Zayna.
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver (Sunday, HBO 11:00pm) — John Oliver… does Adam Driver?
Rick and Morty (Sunday, Adult Swim 11:00pm) — Rick’s addiction to collecting massive robots finds an enabler, and The Family takes center stage.
Desus & Mero (Sunday, Showtime 11:00pm) — Zazie Beetz is the illustrious guest.
Here are more streaming picks for the weekend:
The Last Mercenary (Netflix film) — Jean-Claude Van Damme gets flexible again while starring as an ex-secret service agent (in France) who turns into, well, a mercenary. There are mob hijinks and a reckless youngster and bureaucrats and an errant son and yeah, this sounds like 1980s movie that landed three decades too late, but hey, we could all use some silly action on our screens to make us forget about the effects of gravity.
. Ted Lasso: Season 2 (Apple TV+ series) — First thing’s first: Everyone who’s caught a glimpse of this Bill Lawrence co-created and developed series loves it. That’s a notable feat, considering that star Jason Sudeikis first portrayed the title character way back in 2013 for NBC Sports’ promos for Premier League coverage. Fast forward to the fresh hell that was 2020, and the show surfaced as one of the year’s lone bright spots. Ted Lasso is somehow both relentlessly and charmingly cheery, although the last season finale showed the team losing against Manchester City, which spelled bad news, since the team can no longer hang in English Premier League games. We’ll see how they can turn themselves around, and while considering that possibility, it’s best to remember that Ted Lasso (and Walt Whitman) once said, “Be curious, not judgmental.”
Watch the Sound with Mark Ronson: Season 1 (Apple TV+ series) — The legendary producer and DJ pulls back the curtain on stories of music creation, which can be good, bad, and ugly regarding how far creators will go to nail the perfect sound. In addition, Ronson shines a light on artistry and technology’s intersection, and expect a lot of prominent artist guests.
Behind The Music: Season 1 (Paramount+ series) — This revival brings back the Emmy-nominated docuseries that was once so popular on VH1 and will not be updated for a new generation. Of course, one should expect the older generations of music to be showcased here because, let’s face it, music can be considered ageless. The profiled artists this season include Jennifer Lopez, Ricky Martin, LL Cool J, and Huey Lewis, and one can expect plenty of “vault” episodes that have bene remastered and updated with fresh interviews. MTV Entertainment co-produces this series, which will stream only here.
Masters of the Universe: Revelation (Netflix series) — The very battle for Eternia’s soul continues with the ultimate fanboy, Kevin Smith, picking up the showrunner sword. Smith’s enthusiasm for all stuff geeky has led him down many roads, all of them filled with huge feelings, and honestly, the dude has the Power of Grayskull running through his veins. So, one can expect him to nail the tone here while advancing the story, justifying a revival, and continuing the story of the rivalry between Skeletor and everyone else. Cringer and Orko and Teela are on board, and the voice cast (including Lena Headey, Henry Rollins, and Jason Mewes) is phenomenal here, especially Mark Hamill as Skeletor. Don’t worry, there’s plenty of He-Man, guys.
Ultra City Smiths: Season 1 (AMC+ series) — Fans of Robot Chicken will undoubtedly want to check out this stop-motion animated selection from Stoopid Buddy Stoodios and showrunner Steve Conrad. Expect very adult-oriented humor and the voices of Kristen Bell, Dax Shepard, Alia Shawkat, Tim Meadows, John C. Reilly, Bebe Neuwirth, Jason Mantzoukas, and Damon Herriman.
Even if it was technically created to last on the month’s long journey from England to India hundreds of years ago, the modern-day IPA feels more like it was customized for summer drinking. Crisp, refreshing, and filled with citrus, floral, and dank, piney, bitter hops — what more could a drinker want in a summer beer?
West Coast, New England-style, and everything in between. Citra, Cascade, Centennial, Mosaic hops, we love them all.
“I reach for any fresh IPA brewed with Citra hops if I want my thirst quenched,” says Reed Odeneal, co-founder and brewer Perfect Plain Brewing Co. in Pensacola, Florida. “This superstar American varietal packs a heavy-hitting tropical aroma reminiscent of grapefruit, pineapple, passion fruit, and lime. It’s hard to find any other hop with such a bright palate.”
Other drinks professionals also love the IPA in summer. So we asked them to share their picks for the best, most thirst-quenching, hoppy IPAs to drink this summer. Check out all of their answers below and click the prices if you want to try a few.
Dogfish Head Hazy-O IPA is a perfectly approachable (surprisingly sessionable at 7.1%) hazy IPA. The oat presence helps round out the IBU and citrius notes. Something that brings you the swimming hole vibe no matter your current locale.
Pulp art hazy IPA from Brooklyn Brewery, the packaging as always is on point, but the slight sourness of an IPA balanced with tropical notes makes it a great summer session IPA.
Something I recently got into are Session IPAs, which are meant to be drank all day in the summer. They still have all the fruity, hoppy fun of an IPA, but are lower ABV so you can float above water all day at the pool crushing them back. My personal favorite is from San Diego’s Societe Brewing Co., The Coachman Session IPA.
Pliny the Elder from Russian River Brewing Co. is a banger. In general, my palate doesn’t gravitate toward IPAs, let alone a double IPAs, but something about their unique floral, citrus, and pine aromatics paired with a beautiful bitter, forwardness and solid dry finish, leaves me weak in the knee’s (could be the alcohol content too).
I grew up in Oregon, so pine notes bring out a touch of summer-based nostalgia. Best to grab this baby when you can, Pliny the Elder is often in limited supply.
Terrapin Luau
Terrapin
Adam Mason, cocktail specialist at LouVino in Louisville
I honestly love Terrapin’s Luau IPA. Orange blossom, passion fruit and guava combined to make an amazing fruit forward IPA that doesn’t overwhelm with high IBU factors but is still hoppy enough to pack that awesome bitter punch. Currently on tap at LouVino as well.
Lawson’s Sip of Sunshine
Lawson
Chandra Richter, beverage development and chief mixologist at Drinkworks
When it comes to my favorite summer IPA, I have to go with my local favorite: Lawson’s Sip of Sunshine — Vermont-born and Connecticut-brewed. This is a great IPA with big fruity hop notes and flavor. It’s very balanced and perfect to sip on a warm sunny day.
Abita Big Easy
Abita
Joel Ortega, owner and founder of Timber & Blues in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
Big Easy from Abita, its hoppy and citrusy taste it’s also ideal for this tropical weather. Plus, it’s from NOLA, you can’t go wrong with that. Crisp, refreshing, everything you want from a summery IPA.
With the days being longer in the summer, I look to session IPAs with lower ABV, and I find it hard to get away from Founder’s All Day IPA. Session beers can sometimes lack a balance of malt character — though that’s the idea — but not so with this one.
Funky Buddha Hop Gun IPA has been around for a while, and it is still a winner amongst others IPAs. A hint of grapefruit and pineapple definitely awakens the summer cravings.
Three Weavers Cloud City
Three Weavers
Liam Odien, beverage director at Playa Provisions in Playa Del Rey, California
Three Weavers Cloud City IPA. I live a couple miles away from the brewery, and they’re probably my favorite local brewers. Cloud City is nice and fruity and refreshing, shares a name with Bespin from ‘Star Wars’, and I get to support a local, woman owned business. Perfection.
Other Half Green City
Other Half
Ryan Anderson, complex director of beverage at Ace Hotel in New Orleans
If you are around the New York area, Other Half Brewery based in Brooklyn New York is my go-to hookup for IPA. Their beers are so drinkable for the IPA category. Especially Other Half Green City. The hops are melded in a way that is more about the aromatics and texture than harsh bitter flavors on the palate.
Single Cut Beersmith’s 18-Watt is an amazing summer beer for it is a lower in alcohol session IPA with more aromatics from dry hopping than bitterness. Not only does that make for easy drinking, it donates captivating melon, orange, kiwi, grapefruit peel, mango, and peach notes.
As a Drizly affiliate, Uproxx may receive a commission pursuant to certain items on this list.
It’s been an emotional few days for Bob Odenkirk. After he mysteriously collapsed while shooting the final season of Better Call Saul, it was revealed he was in stable condition. And in his first social media post after the health scare, he made sure to thank the many who wished him well during the scary episode, and to reveal what caused his ailment.
I had a small heart attack. But I’m going to be ok thanks to Rosa Estrada and the doctors who knew how to fix the blockage without surgery. Also, AMC and SONYs support and help throughout this has been next-level. I’m going to take a beat to recover but I’ll be back soon.
“To my family and friends who have surrounded me this week. And for the outpouring of love from everyone who expressed concern and care for me. It’s overwhelming. But I feel the love and it means so much,” Odenkirk wrote. “I had a small heart attack. But I’m going to be ok thanks to Rosa Estrada and the doctors who knew how to fix the blockage without surgery. Also, AMC and SONYs support and help throughout this has been next-level. I’m going to take a beat to recover but I’ll be back soon.”
When news of his health scare broke on Tuesday night, there was an avalanche of support. As he made a turn for the better, those closest to him made sure to let everyone know he was doing a-OK. One of them was David Cross, with whom Odenkirk created the pioneering HBO sketch series Mr. Show with Bob and David, which helped launch the careers of Tom Kenny, Jack Black, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Paul F. Tompkins, Scott Auckerman, Brian Posehn, and more.
“Just got off the phone with Bob and he’s doing great!” Cross wrote shortly before Odenkirk’s own tweet. “Joking and japing and joshing. Both he and his family are overwhelmed with the outpouring of love and concern everyone has shown. You will be hearing from him soon. But he’s doing really well!!!”
While struggling industries attempt to get “back to normal,” rising COVID cases, the Delta variant, and the continuous conflict over these two things, prove we still have a long way to go before we’re back to anything even resembling “normal.” Until then, industry changes are necessary, and fortunately for actors, a big name is leading the charge for better working conditions in the film industry.
In a video promoting her ongoing campaign to join the SAG-AFTRA Board, actress Sharon Stone revealed her role in an upcoming television show is currently in jeopardy due to her demands for a fully vaccinated workplace prior to filming. According to Stone, the Producers Guild of America’s refusal to mandate the Atlanta cast and crew be vaccinated is forcing her to avoid the set and its unsafe working conditions:
“I’ve been offered a job — a good job, a job I really want to do in Atlanta. That’s why my hair is standing on end … because the Producers Guild of America will not guarantee that everyone on our show is vaccinated before I go to work. Will I go to work before everyone on my show is vaccinated? No. No, I won’t. Am I being threatened that I will lose my job? Yes. Yes I am. Will I lose my job if everyone is not vaccinated on my show? Yes. Yes I could. Will I stand up for all of us so that every set that we go on is vaccinated? Yes. Yes, I will. Why? Because that’s ridiculous … that we should have to go to work where we are not safe to work.”
Stone went on to say the lack of intervention reflects the current SAG Board’s interests and lack of safety concerns, before encouraging actors to refuse to work on unsafe sets as well and support her addition to the SAG-AFTRA Board.
In addition to Stone, both Sean Penn and Netflix are two of the most vocal proponents of fully-vaccinated sets. Penn made news a week ago when he stated he would not return to work on his current project, Gaslit, until the rest of cast was fully vaccinated, and even offered to organize the event. Earlier this week, Netflix became the first major studio to mandate vaccinations for all cast and crew, and is leading the charge for other studios to join them. Here’s hoping more studios take the plunge so more movies and television shows — including Stone’s — can be made quickly and, most importantly, safely.
George W. Bush was President of the United States the last time the Detroit Pistons won a playoff game. It’s been more than 13 years since the last great era of Detroit basketball faded, replacing a dynasty typified by hard-nosed defense and physicality that reflected the city it called home with a series of stopgaps and failures. Players like Rodney Stuckey, Charlie Villaneuva, Greg Monroe, and Andre Drummond were purported saviors of the floundering franchise, but in the end, they were nothing more than false idols.
For more than a decade, the Pistons traded poorly, chased the wrong free agents, and seemingly always made the wrong pick in the Draft. In 2011, they picked Kentucky guard Brandon Knight eighth over Kemba Walker, who went one spot later. In 2013, it was Kentavious Caldwell-Pope—then seen as a reach—over another shooting guard, CJ McCollum. Two years after that, when faced with a choice between Justise Winslow, Stanley Johnson, and Devin Booker, Detroit opted for Johnson, whose most notable moment in the pros came when he said he was in LeBron James’s head. He said this after the Cleveland Cavaliers beat them in a playoff game in a series they would go on to sweep. And in 2017, needing a player he thought could contribute immediately, then-president of basketball operations and head coach Stan Van Gundy selected Luke Kennard over Donovan Mitchell.
Even when the Pistons did make the right choice—like in 2012 and 2014, when they snagged Khris Middleton and Spencer Dinwiddie, respectively, in the second round—the endings were still unhappy. Middleton was moved to Milwaukee in his second season as part of a package for Brandon Jennings. Dinwiddie was flipped to Chicago for Cameron Bairstow, who played 36 games in his NBA career, zero of which came with the Pistons. Each front office decision—dating back to the calamitous trade that sent Chauncey Billups to Denver in exchange for Allen Iverson, through the hiring of Troy Weaver as general manager last summer—painted Pistons executives as the kind of folks who shot themselves in the foot, stared at it for a while, then fired another bullet in there, just for good measure.
But in the midst of a pandemic, a regime change, and another lost season, some hope started to emerge. Weaver’s first Draft class—Killian Hayes (no. 7), Isaiah Stewart (16), and Saddiq Bey (19)—blossomed in their inaugural season, with the latter two prospects making the All-Rookie team. Hayes, saddled with injury, showed flashes of his potential in the closing weeks of the season. And free agent signings originally lambasted as reckless, like the 3-year, $60 million contract awarded to Jerami Grant and 3-year, $25 million deal gifted to Mason Plumlee, turned out well. Plumlee was one of the most efficient offensive big men in the league, and Grant was an All-Star and Most Improved Player candidate.
Sure, the Pistons limped their way to the second-worst record in the NBA. But for the first time in years, they seemed to be bad on purpose. It wasn’t The Process, but there was a plan in place. The pieces on the roster weren’t cobbled together with the goal of maybe reaching the first round, only to be swept by a far superior squad. There was logic behind the choices. Plumlee was here to give Hayes a consistent post presence to feed to facilitate his development. Grant was a high-potential veteran looking to make good on his first shot at the limelight after showing glimpses of it during his prior postseason run with the Denver Nuggets. And even Bey and Stewart were nothing more than fliers in the mid-first round. Blake Griffin, who very obviously didn’t want to be there, was bought out. Put another way: The Pistons, who’d so often seemed to build rosters with the same amount of foresight as people who decide what to order as a waiter approaches their table, had begun following a plan.
The thing about a plan is it’s theoretical. The pieces can fit in your head, but making it work on the court is another matter entirely. The 2004 championship team—itself a collection of misfit toys—was proof of what can happen when those gears interlock smoothly. The 2010s were an example of what happens when they don’t. While so much of this comes down to luck, there is an element of being in control of your own destiny, and the Pistons were masters of being their own worst enemy.
By selecting Cade Cunningham with the first pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, Detroit has a chance to make good on a decade of failure, and see through a rebuild in earnest. Cunningham is one of the best prospects that has come into the league in the last decade. In his lone season at Oklahoma State, Cunningham scored 20.1 points per night on 40 percent three-point shooting, despite often facing double teams and being surrounded by poor shooters. He carried the Cowboys to a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament and the Big 12 championship game.
Some scouts see him as a Ben Simmons with a jumper or a player with shades of guys like Luka Doncic, Grant Hill, and Paul George, the sort of jumbo creator—both for himself and others—that all 30 teams covet. Any of those outcomes would radically alter the Pistons’ future. After nearly a decade and a half of sub-mediocrity, there’s hope in Detroit. The rebuild has a centerpiece: one who could make a claim as the team’s most talented draft pick since Hill was taken in 1994.
What happens now is straightforward: Cunningham will don a Pistons hat, sign some paperwork, and smile for photos. He’ll travel to Detroit and eventually meet his teammates—the collection of players who will, for better or worse, have a greater impact on whether he reaches his sky-high potential than any other he’s ever shared a floor with. At some point, he’ll likely scan up to the rafters, and notice championship banners and retired numbers. And that’s when the real fun begins.
There’s a moment in Green Knight in which Dev Patel’s character consumes mushrooms, which is something of a throwaway scene in the film, but a fitting metaphor for David Lowery’s style. No other living director makes me feel so much like I’ve taken mushrooms. In the same way psilocybin forces you to reevaluate familiar objects and situations through the eyes of a baby, David Lowery’s movies make me feel like I’m watching my first movie. All the familiar hallmarks are there, but it never settles into anything resembling a predictable pattern.
I don’t enjoy any other filmmaker so abstract or so self-consciously arty, nor could I entirely articulate Lowery’s purpose in any given scene. Words fail, and that’s part of his power. I’m left with an unmistakable feeling: this was a good trip.
Dev Patel plays Sir Gawain. Or rather just Gawain, he’s not yet a Knight when we meet him, just a carousing wannabe, whose first battle is with a hangover as he attempts to make his way from brothel to castle. Alicia Vikander plays Gawain’s chivalric fuckbuddy, Essel, with peasant’s accent and pageboy hair, with Sarita Choudhury as his disapproving but supportive mother. In a cast that’s perfect from top to bottom, Sean Harris plays the frail king (real ones among us remember him as a bisexual killer for hire in The Borgias) with Kate Dickie (the breastfeeding helicopter mom from the Eyrie in Game Of Thrones) as his queen. (Both actors must have faces that just scream “Dark Ages.”)
On a dark and misty Christmas night, this benevolently paternal king asks young Gawain, whose name the king pronounces “Gar-wynn” for some reason and no one corrects him because he’s the king, if Gawain will sit at the king’s table. Shortly after receiving this honor, an enormous, tree-like knight — “that’s the Green Knight,” you can whisper to your date — enters the hall on horseback to issue a challenge. He dares any of the king’s men to land a blow on him. But it comes with a twist: whatever blow the knight shall land, that knight must travel to the Green Chapel in exactly one year’s time and present himself before the Green Knight, who will return the blow unchallenged. Gawain accepts. He lands his blow, and fulfilling the second half of the challenge becomes both his quest and his dilemma.
What does it mean? Who is the Green Knight and what is his purpose? Can he be cheated? Trusted? What does it mean to renege or to fulfill this promise? Gawain soon sets off on his four-day journey to the Green Chapel, encountering along the way people and situations every bit as abstruse and spooky as the Green Knight himself. There’s a mischievous, corpse-robbing urchin boy played by Barry Keoghan (whose face, a pale pumpkin with slits for eyes, is one of the most compelling), an apparition searching for her head, and a fox that seems to guide the way.
A friend once said, after we’d watched Inside Llewyn Davis, that “every movie should have a magical cat.”
I agree with this, and in The Green Knight, virtually every character is a magical cat. David Lowery might himself be a magical cat. Like Lowery’s 2017 movie, A Ghost Story, Green Knight is something of a riff on mortality. Yet whereas I nearly walked out of A Ghost Story during the seven-minute shot of Rooney Mara morosely eating pie (I was eventually glad that I didn’t), there’s nothing in Green Knight that feels artificially puffed up or derivative of other arthouse cinema in the way that shot did. The narrative jumps around in time and place without the usual signposts, with a logic that’s more lateral than it is linear. The beauty of Green Knight is that it’s so fully realized on every level — score, cinematography, production design, acting — that even when you don’t know entirely what Lowery is on about you can’t look away. It’s almost as if every individual shot has a narrative arc unto itself. It’s so compelling on a micro level that the “big picture” becomes irrelevant. You stop worrying “what does this mean” and “where is this going” and simply savor the moment, like a creature of pure sensual pleasure. Like I said, mushrooms.
This question of the Green Knight, based on an Arthurian poem whose meaning scholars have debated since the 13th century, his greenness, and what he represents — life, death, the devil, entropy — is at the heart of Gawain’s quest. Which becomes, essentially, his search for the meaning of life. As Gawain strives after the chivalric virtues of love, honor, greatness, he’s forced to ponder what they truly mean. Is he actually willing to risk his life to obtain some abstract trophy? Is honor a feeling, a way of life, or simply an external challenge to complete? He ponders, essentially, what we in the modern age we might call “adulting.”
On paper, this abstract meditation on The Meaning Of Everything from David Lowery and A24 might sound like A24 at its most A24iest. What makes it great is that while Green Knight might be abstract, lateral, impressionistic — it’s also decidedly un-cerebral. This is as close as abstract expressionism comes to being a crowd-pleaser. Whereas similarly celebrated movies like First Cowhave a tendency to treat sex like it’s something you read about in the New Yorker, passion is Green Knight‘s lifeblood. And it’s hard to mistake what the film is actually about, even if it’s delivered in a non-traditional form and structure.
Alicia Vikander shows up in a few places as different characters, like a haunting melody Gawain can’t quite forget. Vikander is so good it’s hard to describe. She’s liquid metal, nothing short of a revelation in both roles. She and Dev Patel have real chemistry. Most important of all, when the climactic moments come, David Lowery never looks away.
He’s conveying his thoughts, fears, obsessions in ways I’ve never seen before, reinventing the cinematic language as he goes along. What must this have looked like on paper? It’s impossible to imagine. No one facet of the film — writing, lighting, direction, design — really works without any other, yet they’re perfect just so. It’s a work that could seemingly only exist in the precise format in which it’s delivered. The best art is like that.
‘The Green Knight’ is out today in theaters nationwide. Vince Mancini is onTwitter. You can access his archive of reviewshere.
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